Bulgarian Video Wins New York City Drone Film Festival

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - The 2D Run video by freerunner Ilko Iliev and photographer Marin Kafedjiiski won the New York City Drone Film Festival and the X-factor category award, dnevnik.bg reports. The video has over half a million views on YouTube, after parts of it were used in a Samsung commercial broadcast on the night of the Oscars.

This is the third video from the two Bulgarians' project, titled Mixed Motion. In it, Ilko Iliev, who is famous on the Bulgarian parkour and freerunning scene, makes dangerous stunts, walks down buildings and "wins" virtual coins as in an old-school 2D video game. The illusion is created by the camera on Kafedjiiski's drone, which films directly from above.

The two Bulgarians competed against over 35 other projects from across the world, which push the limits of aerial drone filming in this year's third edition of the Festival, which is also the first and largest such forum in the world.

The video was shot in the course of 20 days at locations across the country, including Sofia, the coastal city of Bourgas, the western town of Radomir, Buzludzha Peak, Vistosha Mountain, among others, while its editing took a few months to complete. According to Ilko, the most extreme part of it was running naked in the snow.